Serving tool



Oct. 26, 1948. H, KlTSELMAN 2,452,474-

SERVING TOOL Filed Dec. 29, 1944 INVENTOR. JKMWLLK/ ran mm;

ETTOEJVE rs. I

Patented Oct. 26, 1948 omits-n sures:

rem OFFICE}...

SERVING TOOL Harry L,,Kitseln1an, Muncie, lnd.,- assignorto Indiana,.Stee1,&, Wire Company, Muncie, Ind., a

corporation of Indiana'- ApplicationDecember'29, 1944;- Serial No. 570,338=' which-will -be adapted without modification .to:

apply either a righthand or. left-hand wrap. Another object of my. invention. is to-produoea serving meansfl, including .a compact supply of servingwire anda support for holdingv such suppiyinproper relation toth'e object. or objects be: ina. seryed....

comprises ,,.a shoe adapted .to. rest ,on the article to bewserved .as the .tool isrotated ,therearound, a support ,for thesupply of 'wire which is to form hepi'v a randa uide ui in t r as it is; fed to the. wrap. The. wire supply carried by the tool is. in the formof a helical coil and is mounted directly upon the support,whi ch is rigid with the shoe and extends through thesupply coi-l; The tightness of the Wrap; produced by a serving tool Willdependupon the tension maintained-in--the wire as it is wrapped about-the articIe beingserved; and-such tension will in turn depend bothupon the effort required to straighten the wirein the supply'coil and-upon the friction which opposesr feeding of the wire-to the wrap: The effort-required tEfstraighten the wire will increase asthe diameter --of the supply coil decreases-:- and by inakingthesupply coil-of relativelysmall diameter: any friction "whichmust be imposedon the wire in order toobtainatight wrap can be kept Well below a value obtainable only by pressures which would damage the -sur-' face or coating oflthe wire.

The accompanying drawingillustrates myinvention: Fig l is aside-elevationof the serving tool'- applying asright-hand wrap to *a-pair: of juxtaposedicablessor wires; Fig. -2 is a (section on bot-tomplan views respectively of. the endofthe serving ,-tool-; Figs.:5 andG are a .fragmental side:

My. improved serylng toolin its preferred form.

jecting Wire-end into "the notch '16.

lie 15 .aplane generallynormal to the cables bee ingsserved. and adapted to be received vwithinza. single-layer; helically; wound coil [4 of the;wire= which is to form the. wrap it). The shoe I2 ispro-w vided'with a longitudinally extending, laterally; projecting flange 15 having in its outer edge .a: notch IE adapted to receivea generally straight: stretch I! of wire passing from thesupp-lymcoil; Desirably; the flange-:1 I 5 is spaced above the bottom of {the .shoerlZ a dis-. tance substantially equal to the diameter; ofsthe.

M to theuwrap. l0.

wire inthe coil J4, so that. as the tool is rotated about the cables the lower surface. of the shoe 42 will rest. upon such cables while the flange 15 will overlie and restupon the wrap l0;

Each supply-coil: l4 provided for use with m r tool-is desirably formed with one end of the Wire constituting it projecting in a straight stretch from one end of 'the coil as the-wire-stretch l'l projects inFigs; 1 and 2. In puttinga supplycoil on the toolythe end-ofthe coil with the project-1 ingwire is applied-firstover-the outer end of the rod ltythe coil isslid along the rod until it reaches. the shoe --l 5; and is then rotated tobringthe pro- The wire end projecting beneaththe shoe I2 is secured to the cables ,4 l inanyj-convenient way and, with the shoe 1 5 resting .upon the ,cables, the tool is ro-s a tated about the cables... If.the cables. I l' are 10-, cated in rear of the notch IE," asindicated in Fig.

1, the tool willbe rotated in the direction of the arrow in that figure and a right-handwrapwill be produced If alert-hand. Wrap is desired. the

tool is; disposed .sothatthe cables ,II will .befiinfi front .of the notchlfi andthe tool is .rotatedin the. opposite. direction, as indicated. in .Figs; ,5 and 6.

It will'be apparent that asthewire is fed from thesupply coil Hi ou the tool to the wrap-illlthe supplyv coil l4. rwilll. rotate. on. its support l3 and that the friction opposing'such rotation of the coil will, tend to create tension in the straight stretch of :wire I!- being fed from the. coil... By far the .greatenpart of. the tension existing in the straight stretch .17 of wire, however, resultsfrom; the effort required .to; straighten the wire. fromthe,.-bent :con-dition, existing in ithe supply coil; Foria givendiameter-. of serving wire, the wire straighteningcefiort. requirediwill vary in a sense opposite; :to that in which :the diameter-r of the-supply coil; Mrvaries; and vbymaking: this coil small enough, I -.am enabled towinsure'inthe straight stretchti'l ofnwire a tensionzgreatenough. to, provide the desired tight ,wrap For. best rev-:-

the support I3, the support I3 may be curved for a portion of its length rearwardly from its point of attachment to the shoe I5. As a result of the curvature of the support the supply coil I4 will be elastically distorted and will bear against the surface of the support in a manner which will create friction opposing coil-rotation. The use of a curved support I3 results: in the additional advantage that the supply coil will not slip from the support accidentally when the tool is not in use.

It will be noted that any frictional drag imposed upon the coil at a point in rear of its front end will necessarily be overcome by torque transmitted through the intervening turns and that this torque will be in a direction tending to reduce the diameter of the coil. If this torque should be great enough to cause coil-turns to collapse and grip the support I3, the tool would not operate satisfactorily; for the coil would then seize the support and would not rotate thereon, I therefore mal :e the inner diameter of the coil sufficiently greater than-the diameter of the support to insure'that the torque transmitted through successive :turns of the coil in overcoming frictional resistance will not be great enough to collapse the turns of the coil into gripping engagement with the support. Ifthe wire forming the coil I4 possesses no less resilience than that of ordinary mild steel wire, and if the support It is one-half inch in diameter, 0.015 to 0.020 inch clearance between the coil and rod will be adequate in the case of wires of guage No. 14 and larger. 7 I

In the tool shown in Figs. 1 to 6 inclusivathe upper rear portion of the shoe I5 is relieved, as indicated at I8, to a point adjacent the notch I6 to provide beneath the support I3 clearance for the front end of the coil I4, and thus the only friction opposing rotation of the coil Will be that between the coil and the support I3. Where the wire leaves the body of the coil I4 in a plane substantially, normal to the axis of the adjacent coil-turn, thewire-stretch II will not bear heavi- 13* against the sides of the notch I6, and the chief function of such notch will be to locate the coil along the support.

Increasedtension in the wire-stretch I'I may be secured if, as indicated in Fig. 7, the relief I8 terminates in rear of the notch I6 to leave a shoulder [9 against which the front end of the coil I4 bears. In such a construction the last half-turn or so of wire on the support I3 will occupy a helical path of relatively long pitch, as indicated at 20 in Fig. 7.

, Thereare several reasons for thefact that the presence of the shoulder I9 increases tension in the wire-stretch II. In the first place, by increasing the pitch of the half-turn 20, the shoulder I9 increases the axial component and decreases the circumferential component of tension in that half-turn. The substantial axial component draws the coil against the shoulder, thus increasing thefmctional resistance to coil rotation; and since the circumferential component of tension in the half-turn 20 is reduced, tension in such stretch is less effective in rotating the coil against frictional resistance. Further, because the shoulder I9 limits the approach of the supply coil to the notch IS, the wire-stretch I! is drawn against the side of such notch to increase the frictional 4 resistance exerted upon the stretch I! as it feeds to the wrap.

It is to be noted that the axis of the supply coil lies in a plane generally normal to the axis of the wrap l0. As a result, the wire in the wrap I0 is bent in a plane which, with reference to the axis of the wire, is at a substantial angle to the plane in which the wire of the supply coil is bent. This fact contributes to the production of a tight wrap.

The flange I-5 is of [benefit in obtaining a close spacing of the turns of the wrap II]. In the absence of the flange, tension in the wire-stretch I1 and the reaction of the object being served upon the, shoe would constitute a force-couple tending to rotate the tool into a position which would result in spacing the turns of the wrap.

However, with the flange l5 bearing on the wrap this tendency is effectively resisted and it is easy for the operator to maintain the tool in the position which will produce a close-wound Wrap.

I claim as my invention:

1. In a serving means for securing together a plurality of elongated articles in juxtaposed relationship, said means comprising a supply of wire in'the form of a close-wound helical coil from one end of which there projects in a plane substantially normal to the coil a generally straight stretch of wire adapted to be secured to said articles, the internal diameter of said coil being less than ten times the diameter of the wire composing it, an elongated support disposed within and frictionally engaging said coil, means for locating along said support that end of said coil from which said generally straight stretch extends, said means comprising an abutment having a coil-engaging surface generally normal to the coil-axis. and a shoe mounted at one side of said support adjacent the generally straight stretch of wire extending from said coil and adapted to engage said articles as the support,

and shoe are rotated thereabout, said serving means being free of any wire-deforming provisions engaging said straight stretch of wire.

2. In a serving means for securing together a plurality of elongated articles in juxtaposed relationship, said means comprising a supply of wire in the form of a close-wound helical coil from one end of which there projects in a plane substantially normal to the coil a generally straight stretch of wire adapted to be secured to said articles, an elongated support disposed within and frictionally engaging said coil, means for locating along said support that end of said coil from which said generally straight stretch extends, said means comprising an abutment having a coil-engaging surface generally normal to the coil-axis, and a shoe mounted at one side of said support adjacent the generally straight stretch of Wire extending from said coil and adapted to engage said articles as the support and shoe are rotated thereabout, said serving means being free of any wire-deforming provisions engaging said straight stretch of wire.

3. In a serving means for securing together a plurality of elongated articles in juxtaposed relationship, said means comprising a supply of wire in the form of a close-wound helical coil from one end of which there projects in a plane substantially normal to the coil a generally straight stretch of Wire adapted to be secured to said articles, the internal diameter of said coil being less than ten times the diameter of the wire composing it, an elongated support disposed within and frictionally engaging said coil, and means for locating along said support that end of said coil from which said generally straight stretch extends, said serving means being free of any wire-deforming provisions engaging said straight stretch of wire.

4. In a serving means for securing together a plurality of elongated articles in juxtaposed relationship, said means comprising a supply of wire in the form of a close-wound helical coil from one end of which there projects in a plane substantially normal to the coil a generally straight stretch of wire adapted to be secured to said articles, an elongated support disposed within and frictionally engaging said coil, and means for locating along said support that end of said coil from which said generally straight stretch extends, said serving means being free of any wire-deforming provisions engaging said straight stretch of wire.

5. In combination, a close-wound helical coil of wire, and a support disposed within said coil and projecting beyond one end thereof to be supported from an object about which the wire is to be wrapped, said support within that portion of its length occupied by said coil being curved to an extent sufficient to produce a substanti-al elastic deformation of the coil.

6. In a serving tool, an elongated support adapted to be slidably received within and to support a single-layer, close-wound coil of wire, a shoe rigidly mounted on said support in laterally ofiset relation thereto to engage an object to be served and to hold the support spaced from such object as it is rotated thereabout while disposed in a plane generally normal to the object, and wire-guiding means carried by said shoe for receiving a stretch of wire extending from one end of'the coil and thence about the object to be served, said wire-guiding means providing a substantially straight path for said wire-stretch from the point at which it leaves the support to the point at which it engages the object, whereby friction between the coil and support and the effort required to deform the wire from coiled to straightened condition as it leaves the support constitute substantially the only factors opposng the feed n of w re rom the too v Number 7. In a serving tool, an elongated support adapted to be slidably received within and to support a single-layer, close-wound coil of wire, a shoe rigidly mounted on said support in laterally ofiset relation thereto to engage an object to be served and to hold the support spaced from such object as it is rotated thereabout while disposed in a plane generally normal to the object, and wire-guiding means carried by said shoe for receiving a stretch of wire extending from one end of the coil and thence about the object to be served, said wire-guiding means providing a substantially straight path for said wire-stretch from the point at which it leaves the support to the point at which it engages the object, whereby friction between the coil and support and the effort required to deform the wire from coiled to straightened condition as it leaves the support constitute substantially the only factors opposing the feeding of wire from the tool, said shoe being provided along one edge with a laterally projecting flange spaced upwardly from the bottom surface of the shoe, said wire-guiding means comprising a notch in the outer edge of said flange.

HARRY L. KITSELMAN.

REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record in the file of this patent:

UNITED STATES PATENTS Name Date Bouden and Leach June 27, Fraser Dec. 1, Kelly Oct. 10, Wilson et al. June 9, Layne Jan. 19, Bush Dec. 11, Madill Feb. 4, Anderson Nov. 22, Strube Apr. 29,

FOREIGN PATENTS Country Date Great Britain -0" June 17, 1926 Number 

